I can see where Penelope Reid is coming from (Letters, 2 November). Maybe her idea of vegetarians and vegans working on farms could be extended. What if every committed meat-eater were to spend three years working in an abattoir? I delivered meat for a butcher in my village as a teenager and regularly saw cattle and pigs being slaughtered. I’ve been vegetarian for nearly 50 years now.Orlando GooddenFrome, Somerset

• My husband and I are not vegan, or vegetarian, though we eat very little meat; but a kind providence, decades ago, gifted us the best cookbook I have ever used: Gail Duff’s Vegetarian Cookbook. Duff isn’t a veggie either, simply a food genius. One-pot cooking, mostly vegan, a few simple ingredients in brilliant combinations. A copy in every UK house would transform the nation’s health, not by food preachiness but sheer eating pleasure. Gail Duff, thank you for 45 years of delicious meals.Hilary CashmanNorton-on-Tees, County Durham